Roasted Chickpeas with Spices

I miss last week. It was a short week with a long weekend and I was on vacation. Being back at work is soooo boring. I’ve barely had the time to cook anything this week. It’s been work all the way. But I did make this crunchy yummy spicy roasted Chickpeas. Who knew they were so easy to make at home, and here we were spending money to buy the packaged version at super markets. Not gonna happen anymore, na ah.

I started off with dried chickpeas, you can use canned if you are short of time. Dried just results in more prep time but the cooking time is hardly different. It only involves soaking the chickpeas overnight and then pressure cooking them for like 10 mins max. I cooked them until they were just about done, just one whistle in the pressure cooker. Mushy ones will not work well, but hey, mushy chickpeas make good Hummus. So waste nothing my friend.

I always soak a little more than required, as leftover chickpeas can always be used to make this amazing flavor packed salad. Recipe found here - it is perfect for an evening snack.

The best part about this recipe is you can customize it to suit your taste. I added cumin or jeera powder and garam masala. You can add all sorts of things like chaat masala or curry powder. It’s all up to you, after all, YOU are the chef.

If using dried chickpeas, soak them for 8-10 hours in water.
Drain out the water.
Take enough water to cover the chickpeas in a cooker, add 1 tsp of salt in it and pressure cook it until they are just done. I cooked them in a pressure cooker for 1 whistle. This may change depending on your cooker and the amount of water. You can cook it in a sauce pan as well, but it may take longer.
Once they are done, drain out all the water and place them on a kitchen towel and pat them dry.
If you are using tinned chickpeas, here is where your work begins. Drain and wash the chickpeas and dry them on a kitchen towel.
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius.
Mix the dry chickpeas with the oil and the spices.
Place them on a baking sheet in one layer and bake for 45-60 mins until they are nice and crunchy. I baked for almost 60 mins, but I started checking on them after 45 mins, you don’t want to burn them.